The SOLUTION is to Decriminalize

As of today May 5, 2015 the show 8 Minutes is off the air. This is a victory for TRUTH, and for sex workers. There is no cause for celebration however, as long as another person is arrested for prostitution.

We may have won this small battle, however the narratives and the political agenda behind 8 Minutes is far from defeated.

In the United States and all over the world an industry has sprung up around “rescuing” sex workers whether they have been forced into sex work by a person or NOT.

Rescuing, in the majority of instances, means arresting.

The arrested women (there are sex workers of all genders, but typically only cis and trans women are arrested) are forced into diversion programs – programs that are paid to “rehabilitate” prostitutes.

The majority of these programs only offer counselling and religion. There is no housing, education, or jobs for those who have been “rescued” or for those who might want to leave the sex industry. Meanwhile, sex workers who do try to access services like emergency shelter and rape advocacy are discriminated against at alarming rates.

The majority of the problems sex workers face are the direct result of being criminalized.

What can we do? What can you do?

We can Decriminalize to stop the arrests and the subsequent damage and destabilization that results. A prostitution record only compounds an already impossible situation. Such a record will greatly limit if not completely shut down a person’s ability to acquire gainful work and or housing opportunities.

Criminalization only benefits the government because arrested sex workers are trafficked (forced) into debt slavery to the state where they are arrested (through court fees, fines, probation costs, their vehicles are often impounded/stolen, and their earning ability taken away) as well as the state sanctioned ‘programs’ where sex workers are trafficked (forced) into treatment they often do not want. Forced treatment goes against the principles of recovery. We want people who need and want help to get it, we want people who are choosing their vocations to no longer live under the threat of criminalization which leads to debt slavery to the state, simply for trying to SURVIVE.

The SOLUTION is to decriminalize!

Please support our case to decriminalize! We need financial support as well as support in getting the word out about this monumental case!

We MUST litigate to emancipate! Through the courts, through challenging the antiquated and unconstitutional laws we can fight for and establish our right to work, our right to equal protection under the law, our right to negotiate our wages and safe working conditions!

PLEASE SUPPORT THE USA CASE TO DECRIMINALIZE SEX WORK:

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